The SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP proposition was a can-kicking exercise.

“Anything can be agreed in a time limited parallel process can be agreed now. Time is not the issue, a critical lack of political generosity is.”

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Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams says that without a stand-alone Irish Language Act, there will be no new assembly

Northern Ireland has been without a functioning devolved government since January, when the coalition led by the two biggest parties, the DUP and Sinn Féin, collapsed over a botched green energy scheme.

The late deputy first minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, stood down in protest against the DUP’s handling of an investigation into the scandal, in a move that triggered a snap election in March.

One of the major sticking points in talks to restore devolved government has been Sinn Féin’s demand for an Irish Language Act.